Kendra Lamb is passionate about dairy farming, so much so that she speaks at conferences, participates in education programs, serves industry groups and now she, and her family, are in a commercial promoting dairy. It started airing June 1 on the Food Network and the Cooking Channel.
The commercial was produced by Dairy Good, a national trade group that represents family-owned dairy farms, such as Oakfield-based Lamb Farms.
Leslie and Gordon Lamb started the farm in 1966 with 110 cows and it has since grown to 2,400 cows. Kendra’s husband, Matt, runs the home farm, but they have expanded to five other locations.
Dairy Good contacted Kendra about the commercial two and a half months ago and said she was excited to do it.
“Since I became a mom, I’ve become passionate about talking about what we do,” Kendra said. “I think that as people get further removed from agriculture, there’s a distrust with what you don’t know.”
Kendra said she wanted to do the commercial because there is a lack of understanding.
“Farmers haven’t always been good at talking about what we do,” Kendra said. “That’s become my role on the farm.”
Kendra said she shares pictures on their Facebook page to show their values at the farm.
“That’s what people care about these days,” Kendra said. “They want to see the person behind the product. They want to know that you care, and we do.”
Kendra also guides free tours throughout the farm, showing the facilities and cows being milked, providing an educational experience for visitors to learn where their food comes from.
The farm is always improving sustainability, Kendra said.
A methane digester was installed in 2010 that powers the whole farm, creating green energy from cow waste.
“We’re always improving [sustainability] but we don’t do a good job talking about it,” Kendra said.
Kendra said 97 percent of the dairy farms in the United States are family-owned.
“Hopefully those that see our commercial see that we are family farms, even though we are bigger than what people picture when they picture a family farm,” Kendra said. “We care about taking care of the cows. We are proud to produce a high-quality product.”
